HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Fueled by a 30-point performance in the first half, sophomore Drew McDonald posted a career-high 37 points to go with 10 rebounds for his third-straight double-double as he led the Northern Kentucky men's basketball team over Horizon League foe Cleveland State, 83-75, on Saturday afternoon at BB&T Arena.

The victory was Northern Kentucky's fifth-straight at home as the Norse improve to 12-5 on the season and open League play at 3-1. The Vikings dip to 5-11 overall and 1-3 in the League.

STAT LEADERS

• McDonald's 37 points is a Division-I era record and the most since Dec. 23, 2009 when David Palmer scored 39 against UC Clermont.
• In addition to posting his third-straight game with a double-double, McDonald notched his team-leading seventh double-double of the season. The sophomore went 11-for-15 from the field including 5-for-6 from three and 10-for-11 from the free throw line in his 33 minutes of play.
• Mason Faulkner joined McDonald in double figures for the third-straight game, racking up 16 points with the help of a 7-for-10 performance from the line.
• With nine points from Jordan Garnett and eight points from both Carson Williams and Cole Murray, the Norse narrowly missed their fourth-straight game with at least four players in double figures.
• Williams also added eight rebounds while Lavone Holland II had a game-high five assists.

TURNING POINT

• NKU held a 43-33 lead at halftime. Cleveland State out-scored the Norse, 13-3, across the first five minutes of the second period to come back within single digits. The teams traded momentum as NKU responded with a 10-2 run that saw five points from Murray to restore NKU's double digit lead, 61-48, at the midway point of the half.
• The double digit lead stuck until the final minute of play.

FIRST-HALF SUMMARY

• McDonald opened the game shooting 5-for-6 from the floor including 4-for-4 from long range to singlehandedly give the Norse a 14-3 lead just five minutes into the game. Holland dished out the assist on all four of McDonald's triples.
• Ten uninterrupted points from Cleveland State and a pair of Norse turnovers cut NKU's advantage to 16-15 with 12:04 left in the half.
• NKU rebuilt an eight-point lead, 27-19, at 7:27 the mark with a 9-2 run fueled by seven points from Faulkner.
• McDonald added another 16 points across the final 7:55 of the half as the Norse and Vikings traded buckets throughout the remainder of the period.
• The teams saw similar success from the floor as NKU shot 55.6 percent (15-for-27) to CSU's 50.0 percent (14-for-28) in the period. Northern Kentucky issued an 8-for-9 showing from the charity stripe to Cleveland State's 0-4 showing to give NKU its 43-33 halftime lead.

SECOND-HALF SUMMARY

• A three-point play from McDonald one minute into the second half gave him 33 points, which was tied with CSU's team total as he eclipsed his previous career-high mark of 32 and put the Norse ahead, 46-33.
• CSU's 13-5 run across the first five minutes of the half brought the Vikings within five at 51-46 with 15:12 to play.
• Seven uninterrupted points helped NKU counter with its 10-2 run to take control and lead it, 61-48 with 10:57 to go.
• A late 7-0 run from the Vikings brought them back within single digits with 41 seconds remaining, but it would be too late as NKU sealed the victory from the free-throw line, capping off a 19-for-23 showing from the charity stripe.

GAME NOTES

• Entering the game, NKU had eight 30-point performances or better dating back to the 2003-04 season when Mike Kelsey scored a program-record 50 points against Indianapolis on January 2, 2004. Kelsey recorded 37 points across the second half and single overtime period.
• McDonald increased his team-leading points per game average to 16.7 as he posted his team-best seventh game this season with 20 points or more and second with 30 points or more.
• With his third-straight double-figure performance, Faulkner is now averaging 14.8 points per League contest while McDonald is averaging 19.3 against Horizon League foes.
• McDonald came within three points of tying Youngstown State's Cameron Morse with the League's season-high mark of 40 points in a single game.
• NKU improves to 10-1 when at least one player posts 20 or more points.
• The Norse are shooting 51.2 percent (59-for-114) across the last two games and 47.0 percent (111-of-236) against Horizon League foes.
• With its fifth-straight win at BB&T Arena, the Norse improve to 6-1 at home.

NEXT UP

• Northern Kentucky continues Horizon League play on Tuesday, January 10 when they travel to Green Bay for an 8 p.m. ET tilt.